Kronos research: Employees pull sickies to watch TV

Half of UK employees (50%) call in sick to work in order to spend the day watching television at home, according to research from Kronos.

The Kronos absence survey found that, of these employees, 69% were in the 16 to 24 age group.

In the UK, 43% of employees admit to calling in sick when they are not ill.

The main reason employees pull a sickie was that they felt stressed and needed a day off, as cited by 25% of respondents. Other reasons include: having to look after a sick child, having too heavy a workload, and running out of paid leave.

Half of respondents (50%) said that to prevent them calling in sick, their employer could offer the opportunity to work flexible hours, 39% would like the opportunity to take unpaid leave, 33% would like to work from home occasionally, 32% would like more paid leave, and 27% would like duvet days.

The majority of respondents, 51%, said that they were negatively affected when colleagues called in sick, with the top reason being that they have to take on the workload of the missing employee.